Food and civil supplies minister Shyam Rajak addresses the meeting with representatives of oil companies and LPG distributors. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Feb. 14: Waking up from slumber, the state government has decided to address the problem of perennial LPG (liquid petroleum gas) cylinder crisis in the state capital.

Admitting rampant black-marketing of cylinders, food and consumer protection minister Shyam Rajak today said his department would create a database of registered LPG customers in the state capital by March 31.

“At present, around 4 lakh families have LPG connection in the state capital. But the distributors supply more than 8 lakh cylinders in a month. This proves several agencies are engaged in malpractices. Some of them have allegedly created fake lists of customers and supply domestic LPG cylinders to caterers,” the minister said in a meeting with the representatives of the oil companies as well as LPG distributors.

Rajak said: “The database of customers we have is incomplete. There are many discrepancies in it. In some, the address is missing and in others, there are no names. In such a scenario, creating a foolproof database of customers is a must. I have set March 31 deadline for the same.”

Once an LPG cylinder gets empty, customer send a short text message (SMS) for booking.

“Each oil company has a specified number on which customers can send text messages for booking cylinders. There have been regular complaints of cylinders being delivered to customers 45 or even 50 days after booking. There are said guidelines under which a fresh cylinder has to be delivered to a customer within 21 days of booking. Directions have been issued to ensure the deadline is maintained. After the completion of 21 days, a maximum of three days’ grace time with be given to agencies for delivery. If they falter, legal action will be initiated against them,” Rajak said.

Mushrooming of LPG agencies is also becoming common in the state capital. A group of people today lodged an FIR against Gareeb Nawaz Gas Agency on SP Verma Road under the jurisdiction of Kotwali police station alleging that its officials had taken lakhs promising them distributorship long back but not a single LPG cylinder was provided to them.

Rajak said there are total 55 agencies in the state capital. Of them, 39 are of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), 11 of Hindustan Petroleum (HP) and four of Bharat Petroleum (BP).

“There are 251 agencies of IOC in the state. The HP has 111 and the BP 121 agencies. These figures include the agencies in Patna,” Rajak added.

If these agencies indulge in malpractices, FIRs can be lodged against them and their licences can be revoked, the minister said, adding several illegal cylinder refilling centres had mushroomed in the city.

“Shops in several areas have illegal LPG refilling machines. If any such outlet is found, the shop as well as the LPG agent of that territory will face legal action. The illegal refilling and sale of cylinders cannot happen without the knowledge of the agencies,” the minister told The Telegraph.